Thanks for putting this up Tom! Also thanks for the kind words @teajay ! I’m stoked that Tom is enjoying these monoblocks as much as I was for the several days I had them running. I have never heard that kind of speed, purity and control over the bass as well as extended highs from a 300B. This is really a combination of all of the upgrades we decided upon, but the weight of this voicing is due to the C3M driver. The C3M is an extremely linear tube, and has the current and voltage needed to over-come the 300B’s Miller Factor and also to push it’s grid when the grid becomes positive (both of these things are what are typically associated with the common "rolled off" highs or "wooly bass" people here from most 300B amps). The 300B and most DHT’s are all capable of extended frequency response on both extremes- provided the driver can avoid slewing. On the tech side of things, some of the other upgrades not mentioned in the original post include (but are not limited to): A full film capacitor power supply. Hexfred diodes in a hybrid rectifier circuit (what this does is runs a tube rectifier in parallel with the ultra-fast diodes so that there are no switching pauses in the rectification and virtually no voltage drop (common with tube rectifiers)). A low impedance power supply using a very low DCR choke for fast rise/decay times and no over-hang or bloat. Schottky diodes for the well-filtered 300B DC filament supply employing a choke. Tube damper plates which de-couple the C3M’s socket from the chassis. All film-capacitors used for cathode bypass. In fact there are no electrolytic capacitors in the signal path in any way, shape or form. This includes the power supply as the power supply IS directly in the signal path. Also, this amp is DEAD QUIET- meaning no tube rush, buzz, hum, etc. is present even with your ears right up to the speakers. With these "all out mods" and the 4 chassis design we employed (with umbilical cables), the price is $11,900 for this build (tubes included).
Aric Audio 300B SET Monoblocks
I’ve been fortunate to have had three previous builds by Aric but nothing has approached his latest creation. After owning Arics Transcend amp and two versions of 300B stereo amps from him I decided to go all out and have Aric build the best possible 300B SET he could. Here’s what we came up with.
300B SET monoblocks with two external, tube regulated power supplies. Hashimoto output and power transformers, Duelund coupling caps, C3M driver tubes, silver internal wiring, WBT Nextgen binding posts and RCA jacks, Furutech NCF IEC inlets, curly maple and walnut chassis lined in copper....and much more that I’m forgetting, I’m sure.
The result is spectacular and as good as the previous 300B SET’s were, this latest build is in another league all together. The power these amps provide belies their 8 watt output. Their bass output is deep, controlled and impactful. Their speed and transparency totally blow me away. Of course they display the purity of tone and 3-D qualities that SET’s are known for......in spades. The soundstage is huge. To me it combines the best qualities of solid state with the best of tubes. In other words, I love them!
While they sound more like 80 watts than 8 to me, efficient and easy to drive speakers go a long in realizing this.
Aric has obtained new levels of excellence with this amp. It also will come at a price, as it should. I don’t know what the retail price might be as I started with his standard 300B SET and upgraded twice to get to these but I can’t imagine they could sell for less than $10k and are probably over that. Hopefully Aric could chime in with general price information and fill in all of the missing blanks I left empty.
Just wanted to share my experience and excitement about these wonderful amps.
300B SET monoblocks with two external, tube regulated power supplies. Hashimoto output and power transformers, Duelund coupling caps, C3M driver tubes, silver internal wiring, WBT Nextgen binding posts and RCA jacks, Furutech NCF IEC inlets, curly maple and walnut chassis lined in copper....and much more that I’m forgetting, I’m sure.
The result is spectacular and as good as the previous 300B SET’s were, this latest build is in another league all together. The power these amps provide belies their 8 watt output. Their bass output is deep, controlled and impactful. Their speed and transparency totally blow me away. Of course they display the purity of tone and 3-D qualities that SET’s are known for......in spades. The soundstage is huge. To me it combines the best qualities of solid state with the best of tubes. In other words, I love them!
While they sound more like 80 watts than 8 to me, efficient and easy to drive speakers go a long in realizing this.
Aric has obtained new levels of excellence with this amp. It also will come at a price, as it should. I don’t know what the retail price might be as I started with his standard 300B SET and upgraded twice to get to these but I can’t imagine they could sell for less than $10k and are probably over that. Hopefully Aric could chime in with general price information and fill in all of the missing blanks I left empty.
Just wanted to share my experience and excitement about these wonderful amps.
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- 13 posts total
- 13 posts total